Two of the region’s most talented performers will be serving up musical treats on home soil when they entertain audiences at this month’s Burley Festival.

Opera North soprano Sarah Estill, who lives in Thornton, Bradford, and Ben Rhydding-based jazz singer Beverley Beirne will perform during the ten-day event which opens on Saturday, August 21.

Beverley will be appearing alongside four of the UK’s finest jazz musicians, Graham Hearn on piano, Ian Mann on bass, Ronnie Bottomley on drums and Mike Cox on tenor sax.

They will perform in the village’s Queen’s Hall on the festival’s opening night.

Sarah Estill graduated with an MA in Performance from the University of Huddersfield before embarking on a career as an opera singer and director.

A former winner of the Dame Eva Turner Award for Dramatic Sopranos and finalist in both the 2003 Mastersingers Competition for Female Wagner Singers and the 2004 Bayreuth Bursary Competition, Sarah was a medal recipient at the NDO’s inaugural Jose Cura Opera Project.

She has performed at leading opera venues in the UK and Europe and has recently taken roles in Opera North’s performance of Hansel and Gretel.

The Leeds-born singer is also involved in educational projects including work with Opera North and is education officer for the Skipton Camerata. Her work also includes being the artistic director of Opera Femina, the UK’s first all-female opera company, and Utility Opera, for whom she directed Madame Butterfly at 2007’s Grassington Festival.

On Saturday, August 28, Sarah will be inviting guests to A Night At The Opera at Burley Methodist Church.

She will appear alongside tenor Ben Kerslake on a programme expected to include works by Verdi, Bizet, Puccini and Donizetti.

Information about tickets for the shows is available on the village website burley-in-wharfedale.org or by telephoning the ticket hotline on 07971 772181.